Help:HowTo/Select a place

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Quick reference

Enter the place name in the following format (for places in the United States): Municipality or Township, County, State, United States. Do not enter the words "Township" or "County". Enter only what is known - e.g., if the municipality is not known, start with the township, county or country.

Once you enter a comma, pause a few seconds and WeRelate will present a dropdown of potential matches. Select a match or continue typing to refine the dropdown. You can skip a part of the place name - for example, you can enter municipality, state to get a list of all places with that municipality name in that state - then select from the list. Note: WeRelate matches on exactly what is typed, so spelling matters; however, capitalization does not.

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Further information

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Entering the place name

To select a place name from WeRelate's database of places, you must enter part of the place name exactly as it exists in WeRelate's database, but you may not enter any words that are not in the place name. Therefore, if you include the municipality name, do not enter the name of the township, because WeRelate place names that include the municipality do not include the township. If you start with the township, do not enter the word "Township" unless you know that the place page includes the word "Township" for disambiguation. Do not enter the word "County".

Do not enter more than is known. If only the state is known, start with the state name; if only the country is known, enter just the country.

Select a place name from the dropdown list in order to have your page link to that place name. If your place name does not exactly match a name in the list, it might not be linked, and if it is not linked, it will display in red.

As a general rule, WeRelate's place database does not support any place smaller than a municipality, except for cemeteries. That is, it does not include neighborhoods, hospitals, churches, or street addresses. If you wish to specify that an event took place in a particular church, enter the municipality name in the place field and the church name in the description field. If you want to specify a particular street address for a residence, it also goes in the description field. (The description field is not available on the Add a Person or Add a Family screen, but is available once you have added the person or family.)

See Place page title conventions for more information on how places are named in WeRelate.

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If you don't get a list

If you do not get a dropdown list after the first comma and pause, continue typing - you will most likely get a list after the next comma. If you still do not get a list and there is no spinning wheel indicating that WeRelate is working, it may be because:

  • your spelling does not match the spelling of the place name in WeRelate's database
  • the place does not exist in WeRelate's database
  • the place exists, but under a different jurisdiction than you have entered - for example, a municipality was in a different county 200 years ago than it is today and the database does not have this information
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If you don't get a match

If you fail to get a match, open another window and search for the place (the search is more forgiving regarding spelling). If the place name is not in WeRelate's database, you may use the place name anyway, but it will show up in red to indicate it is not linked to a WeRelate place page.

Note: WeRelate's database of places is not 100% complete, especially outside the United States, and it is possible that you have run across a legitimate place name that does not exist in the database. If so, seek the advice of a mentor or pose a question on the Watercooler on whether and how to update WeRelate's database to add the place name. (It is possible that the correct solution is to add an alternate name or alternate jurisdiction to an existing place page rather than to create a new place page. It is also possible that the place does not meet WeRelate's criteria for having a place page.)

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